Rules Shift
by Sarcastically Insane
Summary: Darker AU where Duels have serious reprocussions and only certain people can become Duelists. Based on WC 2011 storyline.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fic takes place in an alternate universe than the standard 5D's- you will see the changes as the fic progresses. It is a darker version of the standard YGO verse, partially because of the way I decided to justify the fact that card games replace fights. Some personalities will be changed. Also, the story is based on the WC 2011 storyline, with the three original main characters from it (Toru, Misaki, and the PC) being the main reason I'm writing this. Also, I don't watch the 5D's anime, so I don't know some of the backstory, but this fic doesn't focus on much of that, anyway.

Also, on decks: all characters will have variations of the decks that they use in the game, tweaked either so I can write them better or because there are obvious ways to improve them. Toru's deck is an example; his Scrap deck is replaced by a version I used in the game which served me well. All characters will have decks that actually work, too, instead of me pulling cards out of my ass to make things more interesting/cool/dramatic. I think that if I can't do that with workable decks, then there's no real point to the duel- it's just 'this is the way this character wins this time' instead of a realistic duel.

* * *

><p>Rain. Why did it always rain at funerals? Was the world crying with the mourning? Or was it just the universe's way of making a sad occasion even more miserable?<p>

Klaus was thankful for the rain, though. It hid the tears streaming down his face, tears for his daughter and her husband, and their two colleagues and best friends. All four, dead. A single accident caused it all, and now there were two newborn children without parents and a grandfather without a daughter.

Family shattered. Lives lost or changed forever. And it was raining.

* * *

><p>Jacob easily saw the hand flash towards the holstered Duel Disk as his assailant jumped from the shadows. They were probably hoping for a normal passerby, or a weaker Duelist. They definitely weren't hoping for someone like Jacob. His reaction was smooth and practiced; he drew his Disk from its holster at his waist and slipped it on, the field flipping out, ready to fight against his assailant. To call Jacob's reaction fast would be like saying Crash Town was a hellhole; it got the idea across, but it didn't quite describe the incredible intensity of it. By the time Jacob's Duel Disk was on his arm and ready to go, his assailant's Disk was barely halfway to his arm. His jump had proven to be a more difficult target than he had expected, and now that one of their Disks had activated, there was no way out. Jacob readied himself to destroy his opponent...<p>

As his grandfather's voice broke his slumber. "Jacob! Get out of bed, you idiot!" Jacob grumbled quickly, but began moving off of his bed. "We're going to Satellite to shop today, remember?"

"Yeah, but… why do you need me?"

"Because I'm not a Duelist, and Satellite's almost as bad as here. You're going to make sure I get back here in one piece. By the way, your deck's on the table, along with your Disk."

Jacob shooed his grandfather out of his room and got dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, and grabbed his signature grey bandanna to keep his messy hair under control. He grabbed the pistol-like Disk, as well, and the deck that went with it. Finally, making sure his grandfather wasn't peeking through the door, he opened a drawer and checked to make sure his revolver was still hidden. He was slightly concerned that he wouldn't be able to take it, since he was going to be with his grandfather the whole time, but he was confident in his abilities as a Duelist… or, rather, he was confident that fate would carry his deck to victory if it was needed.

The gun was still there, untouched. Jacob closed the drawer and ran down the stairs, grabbing two pieces of toast as they flew out of the toaster, earning him an annoyed glance from Klaus.

"I have to head over to Toru's first- he said he needed me to pick something up while we were in town." Before his grandfather could object, Jacob had slipped out the door and was running over to his friend's house. Jacob didn't bother knocking on the door, simply walking in. Toru was inside, whacking at a dummy with his bokken. "Not working on your Runner? This has to be a first."

Toru noticed Jacob. "I practice kendo when I can't work on it and my pompadour is already gelled. That's the reason I asked you to grab something for me; I need one more part before it's done. Here." Toru scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Jacob. "Just get this CPU part, and then my _Into the Sunset_ will be complete!"

"_Into the Sunset_? That's what you're calling it now? What happened to '_The Garage Baby_'?"

"It sounds cooler this way, that's all. More mysterious. And I accidentally spilled a bunch of yellow and orange paint on it, so I repainted it and the name just looked… right afterwards. You'd probably call it fate."

Jacob took the paper from his friend's hand. "Everything's fate, Toru. There's not much else it could be."

"Jacob! Get out here now, or we'll never get back in time!"

"Klaus is calling- I'll make sure and get this, okay?"

* * *

><p>Jacob and Klaus walked the streets of the Satellite slum, constantly on guard.<p>

"Grah. I remember when you could walk the streets without a bodyguard," Klaus griped. "Before the last Shift. Now, Duels are _dangerous_ and not everybody is even able to participate, so Duelists go up in the status quo without much work, while the rest of us rot in the mines, and-"

"Grandpa? Please shut up before you start on your 'Duelists are scum' tirade again; I'm sick of it." Klaus glared at Jacob, but relented.

"At least my grandson is a Duelist. You won't have to work in the mines; you can work for Ramon or Malcolm and make it big if you keep working on that deck of yours."

Jacob ignored him. He had already argued with Klaus about him wanting to leave Crash Town before, and he wasn't going to start it again, here in Satellite. "I need to go stop by a Runner shop to pick something up for Toru, is that okay? Just yell really loudly if you get jumped." Jacob dashed off to find a shop that carried his parts and quietly hoped fate would actually have Klaus get jumped. It would certainly make Jacob's life easier.

* * *

><p>Toru finished practicing beating the dummy and went back to look over his Runner. He glanced at the spare parts he had lying around- plenty of parts that would work, but didn't have the level of function he needed to make it out of Crash Town. Hell, he only needed the CPU because without it, he would crash the instant he got into a Turbo Duel.<p>

He absentmindedly reached for his deck, assuring himself it was still there. He was a Duelist, and not bad, either. He sparred plenty with Jacob, and they were usually close games, though Jacob won more often. Still, Toru was confident in his Turbo Deck, even though he had never been able to field test it. It had the same basic utilities his normal Deck did- Scrap monsters with extra mill and going over the 40 card minimum, and plenty of search or draw power- but he wasn't sure how well he had balanced the Speed Spells. He didn't know if he would always have enough Speed Counters for them, or even if they were the right cards to replace his Spells that didn't have Speed Spell counterparts.

The door creaked, and Toru spun around, ready to strike an intruder, but it was just West. Toru relaxed.

"Are you really going to leave, Toru?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. I'm going to get out of here. I'd bring you if I could, but my Runner only holds one, and you, at least, have family here. I'm seventeen, West, and Old Man Klaus isn't going to keep me around after my birthday unless I do something like become his personal Duelist or go work for Malcolm or Ramon. Me and Jacob both agreed that we'd leave here before Klaus could rope us into something like that- we've been able to keep those two away from our little are of Crash Town, but if either of them send anyone more than grunts at us, we don't know if we can hold them off in a Duel."

"Jacob's leaving, too?"

Toru realized that Jacob probably hadn't talked about their plans when he was watching West and Nico for some extra cash. "Yeah. Once he can get his hands on a body, he's going to patch something together and leave. I'm going first to find a place we can split the rent on. We're going to get work in the city, maybe get our names out and see if there's a chance we could get into the Tournament next year."

West's eyes widened when Toru mentioned the Tournament. "You guys think you could compete in the Tournament? But… what if you guys get hurt? You guys aren't that good, compared to some of the serious Duelists!"

Toru smiled a bit at the young boy's concern for him and Jacob. "Well, the way we figured it, the more people that are in the Tournament and want to change the Rules for the better, the better chances there are of it happening, even if we get hurt or killed in the process. Or, at least, that's what I think. Jacob just spouted something like 'Fate will decide who wins' and probably just agreed with me to get away from here. Klaus's gotten a lot worse on him lately."

West looked at the floor. "Well, I'm going to miss you guys. Do you think I could write you guys letters to keep in touch?"

"Sure! I'll be sure to give you our address once we find a place to live. Just promise us you won't give it to Klaus."

* * *

><p>Jacob stared at the piece of junk he had been handed. "You really think I'm going to believe this is a working Duel CPU?"<p>

"Well, yeah, because it is." The shop owner shifted, moving the wad of cash in his right hand behind him and getting his left arm closer to his Duel Disk on a nearby counter.

"Okay, look," Jacob said angrily. "I'm not a computer guy, but there's _macaroni_ glued onto this. Give me my money back, or I'll Duel you."

The shop owner laughed. "Like you could win. I don't even see a Disk on you-you're bluffing." Still, he stepped closer to his own Disk.

Jacob threw the fake CPU to the side. "Fine, then. First to put their Disk on goes first, winner takes cash. Rules, initialize." A blue light shone from his holstered Disk and the standard Disk on the counter, and a robotic voice answered.

"Rules initialized. Draw Disks in three, two, one, go!"

The confused shop owner grabbed at his Disk, trying to slip in on. Jacob grabbed his own Disk, lightning-fast, and attached it to his arm long before the owner had his own Disk on.

"Turn order decided," the robotic voice said. "First, Jacob H. Cox. Second, Kuroe Krieg. 8000 Life Points allotted to each Duelist. Draw five cards from your deck, please. Duel start."


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell?" Kuroe said as the Duel started. "What was that? How'd you-"

"It's the way we start Duels back in Crash Town," Jacob said. "Of course, it actually works anywhere. If I state the rules of the Duel before my opponent, then I almost always get the advantage of going first because of the way Crash Town Disks are made." Jacob drew five cards, then drew his sixth to start his turn. "First, I play Infernity Launcher and activate its effect. I discard one Infernity Archfiend. Then, I play A Feather of the Phoenix, discarding Infernity Mirage to return Infernity Archfiend to the top of my deck. I set a card in my back row, and set a monster. Turn end."

Kuroe drew his sixth card and looked at his hand, then at the holographic facedown a few feet in front of him. "Well, that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to me if I get the first turn or not. First, I play the Field Spell Magical Citadel of Endymion. Next, I play Toon Table of Contents- three times, searching the second two with its own ability. The third one nabs me a Toon Gemini Elf. That puts three Spell Counters on my Citadel." As the Field Spell activated, the surrounding shop was holographically transformed into a sprawling city of magical lights with thousands of corridors in every direction. Atop the highest spire, a black orb stood, and each Spell added another glowing orb to its mass.

"Then I play Spell Power Grasp, which lets me search another Spell Power Grasp from my deck and add a Spell Counter to a card on the field. Citadel also gets an extra Counter because Power Grasp is a Spell card. Next, I summon Defender, the Magical Knight!" A blue-clad mage-warrior with a massive shield appeared before Kuroe. "Defender places a Spell Counter on himself when he's summoned, and then he attacks your facedown!" The mage-warrior jumped forward and slashed at the card, slicing it cleanly in two and destroying what was revealed to be an Infernity Randomizer. The double-barreled creature shattered without a fight.

Jacob quickly countered with his set Trap. "I activate Infernity Reflector! I discard every card in my hand- which is just an Infernity Guardian. Then, the Infernity monster you destroyed is Special Summoned, and you take 1000 direct damage!" Infernity Randomizer rose from the ground, laughing crazily, and turned to fire at Kuroe directly until he had taken the damage from Infernity Reflector.

KUROE: 7000

Kuroe flinched at the bullets that bit into his Life Points, but steeled himself for the wave of nausea that came afterwards. Breathing deeply, he shook it off and checked his hand again. "I end my turn."

"That's great. Now, I draw, and it's Infernity Archfiend, thanks to my Feather of the Phoenix. When I draw him with no other cards in my hand, he gets special summoned and adds another Infernity monster from my deck to my hand- I choose Infernity Necromancer, and summon him. Now, this guy changes to defense position when he's summoned, and, when I have no cards in my hand, can special summon an Infernity monster from my graveyard. I choose Infernity Guardian, and play him in attack position. Finally, my Randomizer's effect activates, and I draw a card. It looks like fate agrees with my cause- it's Infernity Destroyer. Now, you take damage equal to his level times 200- he's a Level 6."

KUROE: 5800

Kuroe felt the damage like a punch to the gut, and began regretting starting this Duel as he keeled over. Jacob continued on his string of effects.

"Next, I discard Destroyer with Infernity Launcher, and use Launcher's second ability- I send it from the field to the graveyard and special summon up to two Infernity monsters from my grave. I only have one open field slot, though, so it's just Destroyer that's coming back." Jacob watched Kuroe's eyes go wide as the line of monsters grew in numbers and power. Randomizer, a gun-like scarecrow; Destroyer, a powerful fiend; Archfiend, a warped humanoid creature; Necromancer, an evil-looking mystic; and Guardian, a wall of flames. "Now comes the fun part, Kuroe. Archfiend attacks your Defender for 200 damage, and destroys him-"

"No, wait!" Kuroe said. "I activate Defender's ability- he can stop the destruction of a Spellcaster once a turn by removing a Spell Counter. He's still there."

Jacob smiled. "Unfortunately, that won't do any good, Kuroe. Next, Destroyer attacks your Defender- and he can't save himself again. Destroyer does 700 damage and destroys Defender, activating his ability, which does an extra 1600 damage."

KUROE: 3300

"Finally, I attack directly with Guardian and Randomizer for a total of 2100 damage."

KUROE: 1200

Kuroe felt as if every bone in his body was breaking as the attacks connected, one after another, and drained his Life Points. He drew another card, hoping it could save him, but it was useless. He didn't have anything that would stop the assault, and if his opponent knocked him down low enough below 0 LP…

"I-I concede," Kuroe said. "Take your money and get out."

The holograms around them faded and Jacob took his money from the weakened Kuroe. "I think a third-turn win is actually a first for me," he said. "Fate took the form of karma, and karma's a bitch when you are." Jacob reholstered his Disk and left the fake shop to search elsewhere for the CPU part Toru needed.

* * *

><p>"Is there nowhere to buy working Runner parts in this whole damn city?" Jacob grumbled under his breath after leaving another junk shop trying to con him out of his money.<p>

"You're looking for Runner parts?" Jacob turned to see a guy about his age with hair that put Toru's pompadour to shame. It had about eight large spikes, multiple colors, and looked like a crab was eating the guy's head.

"Yeah. A friend needs a CPU- here, this is what he wanted." Jacob showed the guy Toru's note. "Of course, if you have any other Runner parts, I'd be happy to buy them, too, for my own Runner. I just need this first, since it's the last thing he needs."

"Well, I'm a mechanic. I think I can replicate this. Here, come with me to my garage."

Jacob, wary of anything Crabhair might pull, followed him to a garage with 'The Enforcers' painted on the door. Crabhead knocked on the door a few times, and it slid up to reveal a guy wearing the same vest Crabhead was. Jacob's hand moved to his Disk, thinking he had been tricked, but nobody acknowledged him.

"Yusei!" he said to Crabhead. "I've been wondering where you were. Jack's been itching to spar with you and Crow wants maintenance on his Runner."

"All right, Kalin. Just let me build a part for this guy first." Yusei walked into the garage and went to a table with various tools on it and started fiddling with something.

The blue-haired one, Kalin, turned to Jacob. "So you're a Duelist, eh? Are you part of a Duel Gang?"

Jacob gave him a weird look. "Duel Gang? I have no idea what that is. I'm not from around here- I live in Crash Town, though I'm trying to get out. This part is for a friend's Runner, though."

Kalin nodded knowingly. "So that's why Yusei's making a part for you- it's for a friend. Us- The Enforcers-are pretty big on keeping each others' backs, and Yusei especially extends that to everyone. Anyway, Crash Town? Never heard of it."

Jacob shook his head. "It's a mining town for Dyne, but there's more or less an everlasting gang war- it's the kind of place someone would only willingly go if they wanted to die. The only reason I'm going back today is because I have to get the part to Toru."

Kalin nodded. "Well, good luck getting out. I wish I could help somehow, but we don't have a whole lot of spare parts- there are four of us in The Enforcers, and I'm the only one that doesn't use a Runner. We use a lot of parts that way, but I'm sure Yusei will find what you need."

As Kalin said this, Yusei returned to the two holding a computer chip. "This should work for what you need," he said, handing it to Jacob. "What's your friend's name? We might be able to help him out if he's coming to the city."

"He's Toru," Jacob said. "You'll be able to recognize him by his blonde pompadour. Thanks, by the way. I have to go- my grandfather's probably having a heart attack by now."

"Overprotective?" Kalin asked.

"No, he's probably scared out of his wits that he can't use me as a human shield if a Duelist attacks him. If he wasn't my grandfather, I would have done it long ago, too. Anyway, bye- if I'm ever around here again, I'll stop by. Maybe spar a little with you guys."

"Sure," Kalin said. "I'd like to Duel you sometime."

* * *

><p>AN: I'm using 'The Enforcers' instead of 'Team Satisfaction' because it sounds cooler. Sue me.


	3. Chapter 3

Jacob handed the handmade part to Toru. "Here. I didn't get the part exactly, but I met some guys that looked like they knew what they were doing, and one of them made this and gave it to me."

Toru stared at the computer chip. "This is handmade? Are you serious?" He held it up to the lightbulb in the room. "This looks factory-quality, or even better. Jacob, I can't thank you enough for getting me this! Who made this?"

"I think his name was Yusei, from this thing called The Enforcers."

"The Enforcers, eh? Isn't that the group West is always going on about? He'd probably get a kick out of hearing that- I need to install this baby. I'm going to give my _Into the Sunset_ a test run later- do you want to try it out then? Because, as a friendly warning, that's probably the only time you'll get to. I've already gotten most of my stuff packed up, and as soon as I can get my baby tuned and ready for the trip, I'm outta here."

Jacob looked at the Duel Runner his friend and he had built from scratch. It was, in their minds, the greatest piece of machinery to ever be created. Jacob had worked for money to buy parts, while Toru had spent hours upon hours combing the desert around Crash Town and the mines to find parts they could use. Toru had also studied engine design and building, learning everything he could, absorbing knowledge like a sponge; the engine that was sitting in the _Into the Sunset_ had been built by hand by Toru. Jacob had spent almost all of his extra time building the body of the Runner, welding and shaping pieces of metal to create it. It was a machine three years in the making, and it was theirs.

"I have to say," Jacob murmured, "I'm going to miss working on it."

Toru looked at Jacob. "I know what you mean. This has been everything for the past, what, three years? And now that it's standing there in front of us… it's beautiful."

"Yeah."

"It's ours."

"Exactly."

"It's… perfect."

* * *

><p>"You really met The Enforcers?" West asked for the fiftieth time.<p>

"Yeah. I almost Dueled two of them when I thought they were going to jump me at their garage."

West stared at Jacob. "You're lucky you didn't, they'd have killed you on the spot!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence West. I'm just glad it was my fate to meet them the way I did."

West rolled his eyes. "Do you chalk _everything _up to fate?"

"Yes. Because there's not much else it could be, now, is there?"

"What if someone changes their fate?

"Then they were fated to make their fate change, I guess. I don't try and think into stuff that gets recursive like that. I just know that I'll end up where I need to, when I need to. No later, no sooner. Like a puppet, maybe, or a character in a story."

"But what if you screw up?" West asked. "Would you get angry at fate, because you couldn't do anything else?"

"Listen, West. Stop trying to think this into itself; what I do is go with the flow. I do what comes to me, because I believe that's what I have to do. My deck is just an extension of that belief; I believe that what I draw is what I need, or at least what I can use to wait until the right field comes up for me to win. If I draw what I need, though, I don't need my hand, so Infernity cards are a good choice."

"I… don't quite follow your logic on that last bit," West said.

Jacob laughed a bit. "Yeah, now that I said it, it sounds kind of stupid. But ever since I found that Infernity Randomizer at the mines, the cards just felt right, so I started building a deck from them. And tell me again, West, how many times we've sparred?"

"Twelve."

"And how many times I've won?"

"…Twelve…" They arrived at the hideout that Nico was at, and West ran up to her. "Hey Nico, Jacob met The Enforcers when he was in town! Can you believe it?"

"Actually," Jacob said, "there's something even better I have to tell you two. Toru and I just finished the Runner, and we're testing it later today. You guys aren't big enough to ride it, but I thought you guys would like to see us test it."

West's eyes went wide, and Nico beamed. "Really?" they asked.

"Yeah. I bet if we head back now, we'll get to his house right about the time he gets the CPU finished. We'd better hurry, though," Jacob said, looking at the sky, "because it's only an hour or two before sundown." Nico and West nodded in sync, and the three of them turned and headed back to the southern entrance to town.

As they arrived at the Crash Town sign, they heard the rumble of an engine, and Toru rode by on his Runner. Noticing them, he braked and u-turned to return to the sign.

"Do you guys like it?" he asked, smiling widely as he took off his yellow helmet.

"Dude, that's so awesome!" West yelled, running up to the machine, while Nico just smiled.

"How'd you guys manage this?" she asked.

"Well," Toru said, "I found the parts, and Jacob worked for money to buy anything else we needed. I did the engine, Jacob did the body, and we bought the CPU. It's been a lot of work, but this baby's worth it- we actually used the design that we're pretty sure our parents designed. I hit about seventy miles an hour just now, and it's an amazing feeling. Jacob, do you wanna ride?"

Jacob nodded. "I have to try this thing out before you leave, don't I?"

Toru laughed and tossed his helmet to Jacob. "Just don't crash. I wouldn't want our machine getting wrecked."

Jacob grabbed the helmet out of the air as he grinned back at Toru. "Because I was planning on crashing it." He climbed onto the machine and revved it, feeling the power of the engine Toru built. He kicked up the kickstand and started the Runner forward, quickly gaining momentum. He glanced at the speedometer; about 50 mph. He smiled underneath his helmet as he sped across the desert, pushing the machine and watching the speedometer climb. 60, 70, 80, 85… Jacob felt the wind, the speed, the adrenaline… he felt amazing. On the Runner, at that time, it felt like the world was right. Everything was in place. Nothing could go wrong. Jacob looked at the speedometer again. 95. That was crazy. Their pieced-together scrap was performing better than some factory builds. Jacob inhaled deeply, breathing in the desert air and letting the perfectness of the situation run through him.

Jacob looked forward, and saw that he was feet away from a large boulder, easily twice his side.

Jacob would remember the next few seconds for the rest of his life. First, everything slowed to a near-stop. Jacob saw every tiny crack and dimple in the side of the boulder. He saw every speck of dust kicked up by the wind. The world in front of him was like a still picture.

Second, Jacob reacted, but even his trained speed seemed slow to him. He saw his arms start to steer the handlebars to the left. Jacob also noticed, almost casually, that he wasn't seeing in color.

Third, thought stopped. Jacob began feeling like he was only an observer as his body worked.

The Runner began tilting to the left, ever so slightly, but it would never escape hitting the boulder the way it was going.

Then, within Jacob's head, it clicked. What he was going to do. Where he got the idea, he had no idea. With any other Runner, it wouldn't work, but because of the design… Jacob was infinitely grateful Toru and him had used their parents' blueprints.

Jacob jerked the handlebars to the right, hitting the brake that stopped the front wheel from spinning- a design feature unique to their Runner- and gunned the machine, sliding sideways and drifting around the back of the boulder and turning back to Crash Town.

As Jacob started back, he inhaled, realizing he hadn't been breathing. As he pulled up to the entrance of Crash Town, Toru, West, and Nico mobbed him.

"Oh my god!" "Are you alright?" "How'd you do that?"

Jacob dismounted the Runner and stood shakily. "I-I don't know, really. Everything just… happened. I'm beyond lucky to be alive right now."

"Well, then," Toru said, patting Jacob on the back, "at least you're not a human crash test dummy, and our machine is still in one piece. That was an amazing maneuver, too. You're a natural, Jacob."

"Yeah," Jacob breathed. "That sounds right. I reacted, and it worked out."

"I guess that fate thing you're always talking about might just be real."

* * *

><p>Toru finished stuffing his things into the bags he had attached to the <em>Into the Sunset<em>, then loaded his bokken into a hidden compartment and added a roll of duct tape as an afterthought. Just in case.

"Time to leave," he muttered to himself. He rolled his Runner out of his house and to just beneath the Crash Town sign. He turned to look at the battered town where he had grown up; the buildings in shambles, the two unpaved roads, and the mountain mine looking ominously in the distance. "Goodbye forever," he said.

"I hope it's not forever." Toru spun around, bokken drawn from his bike, to see Jacob.

"Oh. It's you," he said, resheathing the bokken. "Are you here to see me off?"

"In a way," Jacob said, walking up next to Toru. He stared at the flat horizon south of Crash Town along with Toru for a moment, before breaking the silence again. "It's going to be different without you here, Toru. We've been just short of brothers for seventeen years. Never apart. And now you're heading to Neo Domino…"

"Don't forget that we're in this together, in the end," Toru said. "The extra engine is beneath my bed. Lift up the floorboards."

Jacob nodded. "Well, I guess this is the last time we'll see each other for a while." Abruptly, Jacob hugged Toru. "Here's to hoping for a better future… brother."

* * *

><p>AN: Thus ends what is more or less the extended prologue. The next arc will be delayed for at least a week, though, because I have summer camp. And I can't promise the quick updates will continue.


End file.
